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"I'm a careful driver and I've never had an accident, a parking ticket or made an insurance claim. I think it's because I always keep my eyes wide open and stick to the rules of the road like glue. If the limit is 40 miles per hour I drive at 40mph, and I always make sure I have my foot at the ready to brake."

Mrs Gladwin, a former shopkeeper, taught herself to drive in 1925, when she would take her parents' Model T Ford into the countryside without their knowledge.

Two years later, she left school at the age of 14 to work in the family bakery and took on the role of delivery driver and was given free rein over the company van.

Despite this she did not secure a licence until she was 17. "They did not have lessons or tests in those days and I just took to it naturally."

The pensioner bought her first vehicle, an Austin 8, in the 1930s. She now owns a Peugeot 106 and a 34-year-old Mini, which she is reluctant to give up.

"I've driven all over the country and I've never had an accident. There have been a few near misses by other people though," she said. "I feel dreadful about giving up but the traffic is so bad these days and people do some stupid things. I can't bear to get rid of my Mini though, I'll keep it so my son can drive me around."

The Association of British Insurers said the pensioner's driving record was admirable. "Mrs Gladwin should be congratulated on a blemish-free record. She must be a very careful and responsible driver," a spokesman said.

Another of Britain's oldest drivers also gave up her car this year - at the age of 105.

Sheila Thomson, of Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, quit in September after suffering a slight prang on the way to church. It cost her a 71-year no-claims bonus.

She had been driving for seven decades, despite having never taken a test. "I had never claimed for anything in 70 years of driving and I told the woman from the insurance company so," said Mrs Thomson.